All Over Except the Shouting for Harvard-Westlake

Russell Lakey and Eric Geffner, best friends who wore headbands together from the first Harvard-Westlake game this season to the last, sat side by side as the final seconds of their high school careers came to a disappointing end Tuesday night.

The Wolverines lost to Morningside, 82-65, in a Southern Section Division III-AA quarterfinal game at Inglewood High, but both were cheering loudly for the bench-warmers despite a moment of pure agony.

“It shows the class and maturity they have and we’re as proud of that as anything we do on the court,” Coach Greg Hilliard said.

This team of overachievers hoped it had a few more games left, but Morningside (21-9) exposed the weaknesses in the Wolverines (22-6) for the second time this season.

With 6-foot-5 center Dwayne Trotter scoring 24 points and the Monarchs’ pressure defense forcing Harvard-Westlake to rush its shots, the Wolverines could never take the lead. They fell behind, 29-11, in the first nine minutes, making only four of 18 shots.

Harvard-Westlake cut its deficit to nine points at halftime and tied the game, 44-44, early in the third quarter by putting together a 9-0 spurt. But Morningside went on a 15-0 surge at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth to eliminate the Wolverines.

“We made one good run and a few small ones, but we never got rolling,” Hilliard said. “Their defense was tremendous and took us out from what we wanted to do.”

Harvard-Westlake trailed, 62-52, entering the fourth quarter. That’s the quarter the Wolverines usually flourish in because of Lakey, the senior point guard who tries to take control of the game. But Morningside wouldn’t let him drive and managed to stick a hand in his face whenever he shot.

“They doubled- and triple-teamed me and got us out of our game plan,” Lakey said. “They just beat us. In the second half, their press got us tired and a lot of our shots came up short.”

Lakey finished with 22 points, but was zero for five in the fourth quarter. John Karavas added 14 points.

The Wolverines had lost only one game since Dec. 29, but they knew the absence of a true center made each game a difficult task.

“We talk about our margin of error being very small,” Hilliard said. “The stars and planets have to be in alignment. We can’t afford to make even normal mistakes.”

The game brought to a conclusion Lakey’s memorable three-year varsity career. He finishes as the Wolverines’ all-time leader in assists, three-pointers and steals.

“He’s probably the best guard we’ve had in our program,” Hilliard said.

Harvard-Westlake thought it would be hosting the game at Notre Dame, but made a mistake and frantically tried to contact its fans Tuesday about the site change to Inglewood.

“We left messages on every voice mail in town,” Hilliard said.